"Windtalkers" is quite old-fashioned. Did you see yourself in a John Wayne mould?
I never, ever, thought of myself as being like John Wayne. Perhaps a little more like Richard Widmark in "Halls of Montezuma". I'm personally at my best in acting when I'm being as honest as I can be. Often that means there are flaws and issues, and I'm OK with that. I care more about a person that is damaged, and is trying to overcome that, than the person who is truly heroic and flawless.
Joe Enders and Captain Corelli are both World War 2 soldiers. How do they compare?
They're like two opposite sides of the coin. Corelli was not really a soldier at all, but a musician who finds himself in a war situation. He was a very likeable guy, a loveable human being. Joe is so struck down by war that he has become somebody you wouldn't necessarily want to have a drink with. He's got a scar on his face but he also has the emotional scar of losing his men. He's cold, distant, aloof, and I wanted to try my hand at painting that picture of a man and somehow make you still feel for him.
What effect do you hope this film will have on the audience?
Well, I think the sentiment of making someone want to hesitate before pulling a trigger is a good one, and I think "Windtalkers" does that.
Are you really going to remake "The Wicker Man"?
Yeah, it's a great movie and I want to play in it. I was so fascinated and shocked when I saw it that I couldn't sleep for two weeks. It's one of the few movies that have really affected me on such a profound level. That and "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?". The enjoyment of human suffering in any form, religious or otherwise, is to me so appalling, so deeply disturbing, that I want to try re-making the movie.
